


The Knothole Resistance

by Xelda



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-03-07 13:32:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18874195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xelda/pseuds/Xelda
Summary: Sonic the Hedgehog is defeated, but the Resistance still fights strong! These are the adventures of the Knothole Resistance, a small faction of the Resistance led by Sally Acorn, Princess of the Kingdom of Acorn, as they try to fight back against the nefarious Doctor "Eggman" Robotnik, his mechanical army, and the Masked Phantom responsible for defeating their hero.Set during the events of Forces, during the six months Sonic was in prison. More character tags will be added as the story progresses.





	1. The Knothole Resistance is Here!

"Eggman's attacking!"

 

The cry rang through the village and brought all activity to a standstill. As the racoon ran by repeating his warning, villagers dropped their things, gathered their children, and ran to their homes or to the nearest homes that would take them in.

 

"A badnik army is coming! Save yourselves!"

 

"AH-Hahahah! 'Save yourselves', he says!" Watching as the helpless villagers fled through the streets and hid in their homes, the small chinchilla Thunderbolt cackled from the safety of her hovercraft.

 

Mothers and elderly citizens locked themselves and their children into their homes, shutting their windows and drawing their blinds, whilst those able to fight grabbed weapons to defend themselves. "Your puny village escaped our notice for a while, but not anymore! Surrender now and I'll show you mercy!"

 

"We'll never surrender to the Eggman Empire!" one fox, wearing a feathered headdress, declared. The villagers behind him cheered, even as an army of robotic soldiers marched towards them. They were tall and bulky with spiked shoulder pads. The badniks pointed their fists at the villagers and fired lasers, hitting some and forcing the others to duck for cover.

 

"Egg Swats! Aim for the eyes!" Arrows and bullets were fired, and when the first three badniks fell, the villagers carrying close-ranged weapons charged. "Don't give in! We'll protect our village from the Eggman!"

 

"OH-HOHOHOHO!" Thunderbolt cackled as she watched the villagers' desperate stand against her army, only to fall one-by-one to the superior firepower of the robots. Still, a few seemed to know a thing or two about combat. A good number of Egg Swats had fallen and their formation was beginning to break up. "Well then, I guess it's my turn to-"

 

"Not today!"

 

Thunderbolt gasped and turned around, sparks flying from her fur as she came face-to-face with a brown-furred squirrel-chipmunk, wearing a blue vest and a pair of combat boots, and two blue bracelets that emitted energy blades along her forearms.

 

"Sally Acorn!" Thunderbolt held her hands out, but she was too late; Sally slashed at the hovercraft, damaging it and forcing it to fall onto the army of Egg Swats below. "NOOOOOO!"

 

Sally grinned as she extended her arms, using her blades like wings to glide safely down to the villagers. "The Knothole Resistance is here to help!"

 

"T-Thank you!" the fox with the headdress called out, before turning to the villagers. "Now's our chance! Let's drive out these invaders!"

 

"YEEEEEEEEAH!"

 

Thunderbolt roared as she jumped out from the crashed pod, electricity spraying wildly everywhere. "THAT WAS A GIFT FROM LORD EGGMAN! YOU WILL PAYYYYYY!"

 

"Just as planned," Sally whispered. "Now, Rotor!"

 

"On it!" From one of the alleyways, a purple-skinned walrus ran into the centre of the fray, carrying a large machine in his bulky arms. He stopped and planted the machine firmly into the ground, adjusting his glasses as he flicked several switches. A blue field generated, forming a wall that protected himself and the villagers from the bolts of electricity.

 

The only ones vulnerable now were the very bots that Thunderbolt had brought with her. One-by-one they fell. Her rampage eventually stopped, but not before almost all of her forces were defeated.

 

"So, you done now?" Sally asked, walking towards the enraged chinchilla as the shield dropped. "If so, then it's our turn!"

 

"You won't get out of here!" Thunderbolt threatened, jumping back into her pod as Sally and villagers rushed forwards. She sent the last of the Egg Swats to guard her as she activated the emergency force field in her pod, and by the time Sally reached her, she was safe behind a field of energy that no force could penetrate. "AHAHAHAHAH! Too bad! I've just sent out a distress signal! Soon, even _more_ Egg Swats will arrive, and Shadow, too!"

 

Sally gritted her teeth. "Don't mention that name," she warned.

 

"What, sad that he betrayed you?"

 

Sally wasn't so sad that Shadow had betrayed _her_ , but more that he had betrayed her childhood friend… "Go ahead and bring him here. I'll be the one to pay him back for what he did."

 

Thunderbolt tilted her head, before she put two and two together, and gave a devious grin. "Oh, I see. You were in love with that loser, weren't you? That 'Sonic the Hedgehog'?" She saw Sally's eye twitch. Bullseye. "Must hurt knowing he died at the hands of his friend, huh?"

 

Sally swung a blade at the force field, shocking Thunderbolt and causing her to fall back as the impact shook the pod. "Sally!" Rotor called out. "Don't let her get under your skin! Remember the plan!"

 

Sally took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a few moments. When she opened them, she exhaled. "… We'll be out of here before they arrive." With that, she turned and pointed to the east. "We have a ship prepared for you. Go there now!"

 

"A ship?" Thunderbolt asked. "Wait, that's… You stole _my_ ship?!"

 

"We sure did," Sally declared, waving goodbye to Thunderbolt as she left with the villagers. "I'll let you go this time! Try to get that temper under control!"

 

"WAIT! STOP RIGHT THERE!" Thunderbolt smashed the control to lift the force field, shattering it. "… GAAAAAHHHHH! NOW I'M STUCK IN HERE! HEY, DON'T TAKE LORD EGGMAN'S SHIIIIIIP!"

 

* * *

 

Antoine gulped as he watched the two Egg Swats standing in front of the control room. "H-How am I going to get in zere?" he whispered to himself, his hands trembling as he held his father's sabre. "Princess, why did you 'ave to assign _me_ to zis mission? I 'ave not ze combat experience to seize a whole _airship_ from ze doctor."

 

The Egg Swats turned to look his way, and Antoine hurriedly ducked around the corner, praying they had not seen him. "If only zere was a vent that could grant me access…"

 

_"Antoine!"_

 

"EEEEE!" Antoine clapped his hands over his mouth, sweat dripping down his head as his eyes shifted down to the radio at his hip.

 

* * *

 

"Antoine, are you there?! We've got the villagers and we're heading your way! Please tell me you have the airship under control!"

 

_"Ah, yes, well, about zat, ma princess, zere is being a slight complication…"_

 

Rotor sighed. "Meaning you can't find a safe way into the control room. Just take them head-on then!"

 

_"B-But mah expertise, it is in taking ze enemy out from behind zeir backs! From ze front is so… dangerous!"_

 

"Antoine, remember what your father taught you," Sally said. "We can see the airship now. We _need_ you to do this for us, okay? I believe in you."

 

…

 

"Antoine?"

 

_"Z-Zey have spotted me! Zey are coming zis wa-"_

 

The sound of a laser blast was the last thing they heard, before only static came from the other side. Concerned, Sally sped up. "I'm going on ahead!"

 

Rotor nodded. "We'll be fine! Go save Antoine!"

 

Sally made it to the airship first. As frightened as Antoine was, he was successful in taking out the bulk of the patrolling Egg Swats by utilising the ship's various vents and catwalks, as well as the subterfuge tactics his father had taught him.

 

Making her way to the control room, Sally readied her blades and slowed her pace. She rounded the corner, and found… "Antoine!"

 

There before her stood the brown-furred coyote with fancy blonde hair, wearing the distinctive blue jacket of her father's former military. In his hands was an elegant sabre with the name 'D'Coolette' inscribed along the side at the base of the blade.

 

At his feet were two downed Egg Swats, each one sporting many slash marks that caused their inner circuitry to fall out. He gasped and jumped at the sudden appearance of Sally, but relaxed upon identifying her. "M-Ma princess, I apologise for ze earlier interruption, but I was how you say, cut off, when zese two attacked me…"

 

Sally smiled. "Just glad you're okay. Knew you could it."

 

Antoine blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "Oui… All zat is left is ze cockpit, but she is locked."

 

"That's fine. I've got the universal key." Antoine stepped aside, and Sally rushed forwards, jumping and kicking the door so hard that it flew open. Inside, several Egg Swats pointed their hands at her, but she was too fast and nimble for their lasers. "You're too slow!" she taunted as she sliced the first one apart.

 

As Sally continued to make quick work of the badniks, Antoine crept inside and quietly made his way to the centre. Only one Egg Swat remained, and it was the one by the control panel. As it locked its sights on Sally, Antoine raised his blade and cut the robot in half. "Princess, we are in ze clear!" As Antoine sheathed his weapon, he regarded Sally with an odd look. "What was zat 'you're too slow'?"

 

Sally shrugged as she approached the control panel. "Just… something I picked up somewhere."

 

Antoine's face fell. "From zat Soneec ze Hedgehog?"

 

"'Sonic'," Sally corrected, "And… maybe."

 

Antoine sighed, but decided not to press it further. He did not care much for the hedgehog of legend, mainly because he held a tight grasp on the princess' heart, but he could not bring himself to speak ill of the dead…

 

 _"Sally, we're onboard!"_ Rotor declared over the radio. _"But Shadow's on his way! Hurry!"_

 

Sally froze. All she had to do was press one button and they would launch into the air. Not even Chaos Control could reach them then, but…

 

"Princess, we must leave," Antoine said in a soft tone.

 

Sally swallowed, nodded her head, and hit the button. The ship launched, rising into the air quickly, before closing the door to the loading bay.

 

Minutes later, Rotor joined the two in the cockpit, together with the fox wearing the headdress, who bowed before the princess. "Princess Sally, I am Chief Spandem, and I must thank you for saving our village."

 

Sally shook her head. "Please, don't. All I could do was get you out of there, but your village…"

 

"That… is what I was going to ask you about next. Pray tell, where are we headed, and will there be room enough to accommodate us? We do not wish to impose, but…"

 

"We're heading to the main Resistance unit, headed by Knuckles the Echidna," Rotor said, examined the remains of the Egg Swats scatted about the floor. "Sal, I can take whatever parts I want from these, right?"

 

"Of course," Sally answered, watching with delight as Rotor's eyes lit up. She couldn't help but giggle, despite their situation. She returned her gaze to the chief. "As Rotor says, we will be heading to the main Resistance headquarters. Unfortunately there simply isn’t enough room in Knothole for an entire village, but do not fret. Knuckles will find homes for all you. You will all be asked to help however you can, but-"

 

"No, no 'buts'. You rescued us from the Eggman. You will hear no complaints from us, Princess Sally." The chief bowed once more, and then turned to leave. "Oh, I should probably inform you, one of our scouts spotted unusual badnik activity in the forests due west of our village. We believe there is a hidden lab there."

 

"Is that why you asked us to come?" Sally asked. "You feared you may have been discovered?"

 

The chief shook his head. "We sent no such request. Our village is- _was_ poor, and we had no means of reaching the Resistance units." With that, the chief left the room.

 

Once he was out of earshot, Sally turned to Rotor. "So who was it then? Somebody tipped us off to that attack, but who?"

 

Rotor scratched his head through his cap, still examining the scraps beneath him. "Good question. The only name they gave us was 'F. F.'."

 

"I do not like eet," Antoine said with a huff. "Acting on information from zose who do not reveal zemselves."

 

"Well, we don't have a lot of choice," Sally replied. "The Knothole Resistance is small. We're practically running around in the dark as it is. But, at least now we know where our next target is."

 

"The forest?" Rotor asked, receiving a nod from Sally. "In that case, I'll whip up something to help with us stay hidden in that kind of terrain!"

 

Antoine grinned, standing tall and proud as he declared, "If it is leafy terrain of which you speak, then I am something of ze expert in that manner of combat."

 

"You mean hiding?" Rotor teased, earning a sharp glare from Antoine. Sally chuckled as she turned her attention back to piloting the airship, Antoine berating Rotor behind her whilst the latter simply continued to scavenge for parts.

 

* * *

 

Eggman tapped his foot on the ground as he glared down at the crashed pod, Thunderbolt smiling sheepishly back at him through the force field that she couldn't turn off. "I'm waiting for an explanation."

 

"I-It was a trap, sir!" Thunderbolt declared. "The Resistance, they knew of our attack! They knew we were coming and sent an army after us!"

 

"An army, huh?" Eggman turned to the black hedgehog beside him and asked, "Which Resistance unit was it?"

 

"It was the Knothole Resistance," the hedgehog replied.

 

Eggman turned back to Thunderbolt. "An army, was it? Three children playing soldiers?"

 

"T-There were more, honest!" Thunderbolt gulped. "A-And besides, they had some kind of advanced technology! T-That right there, it could deflect my electricity!"

 

Eggman turned to the remains of the machine that Rotor had planted earlier, and walked over to examine it. "You don't say. It seems they have something of a genius in their group. But still, this is of no use to me – it's designed to destroy itself from the inside after one use."

 

"And that's not all! That princess, she used some strange weapon! It was like, two swords, but they were made of energy!"

 

Eggman turned to Thunderbolt and gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "So they got some new toys. Are you suggesting the robots I gave you aren't enough? Or that _my_ weaponry is inferior to _theirs_?"

 

Thunderbolt recoiled. "O-Of course not, sir! I'm sorry, it won't happen again! Give me another chance, I'll-"

  
  
"You're lucky. I'm in a good mood today, having just crushed another resistance group. I'll let you off with a warning today." Eggman turned and walked back to his pod.

 

Thunderbolt sighed, wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Thank you, sir! You won't regret it! Um, but I can't quite get out of this, so-" In an instant, a blast was fired from Eggman's pod that completely shattered the force field. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"

 

"Fail again, and the next shot will be aimed at _you_." Eggman grinned as he observed the fear in Thunderbolt's eyes. "Ta-ta for now!"

 

"S-Sir… I'm on it, sir…" Thunderbolt sighed, and then passed out.


	2. Into The Bunker

Sally, Antoine and Rotor spied on the badniks standing in the middle of what seemed to be an empty clearing. They were two Egg Soldiers, equipped with spears in one hand, and shields in the other. They stared blankly into space, every minute checking their surroundings, before returning to their stationary positions.

 

"There's no doubt. There's an entrance somewhere here," Sally whispered, passing her binoculars to Rotor. "Those soldiers each have a warning beacon. If we alert them, they'll send an S.O.S. to all nearby Egg Bases."

 

"I think I see a hatch just behind them," Rotor said. "There's no way we can open it without them noticing. They're also equipped with 360-degree sensors – they can see anything that happens all around them. Them checking their sides is just a bluff tactic, but… these 'bots look like they haven't been maintained in some time."

 

"Meaning?" Antoine asked.

 

"Meaning that whatever's here might have been abandoned some time ago. We'll likely just dig up old info the Resistance already knows about."

 

"It's still worth checking out," Sally declared. "Any idea how to take them without tripping the alarm?"

 

"That's easy. Although they can see all around them, they can only react to one thing at a time. If we send out a diversion in front of them – something that won't scare them – then we can attack from behind and take them down before they call for help."

 

"What would we be sending?" Antoine asked, when suddenly, a small bunny rabbit began to nibble at his boot. He tried to shoo it away, but it seemed enamoured with him. "Please be leaving. We are having a discussion of strategy."

 

"Wait, that's it!" Rotor proclaimed in a hushed cheer. "We'll send this lil' guy out in front of them. They'll see it and react, but when they see it's just a mobini, they won't be alerted."

 

Sally picked up the small rabbit and asked it, "Could you do us a favour? We really need your help with this."

 

The rabbit looked concerned, but when Sally offered it a carrot, it happily obliged. Hopping through the bushes, the rabbit sat and waited, observing the two badniks in the distance. Eventually, the trio got behind the robots and Sally gave the critter a small nod.

 

Scurrying out into the clearing, the rabbit caught the attention of the two Egg Soldiers, who turned immediately and analysed the new presence. As they did, Sally and Antoine rushed out from their hiding places and struck, slicing the badniks apart and taking away their beacons. Whilst Rotor disabled them, Sally and Antoine examined the hatch and found a way to open it.

 

The hatch creaked loudly as it opened, and they had to put quite some force into it. "It's supposed to open automatically," Rotor pointed out. "As I thought, this place hasn't been used for some time. These badniks were running on reserve power, too. Likely would've only lasted a few more months."

 

"Well, if nothing else, we have another place to hide refugees," Sally pointed out, turning to the small rabbit that scurried towards them for its reward. Smiling, she took a carrot from her satchel and gave it to their new friend. "Thank you. Now you be careful about where you forage,okay?"

 

The rabbit took its prize and hopped off happily. Rotor scratched the back of his head as he watched. "I know he helped us and all, but we're running low on food, Sal. That carrot was your only ration for this mission, right?"

 

"It's a small price to pay," Sally replied.

 

"Ma princess, if I may, I will offer my own share to you," Antoine offered, but Sally shook her head.

 

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. Come on, let's check this place out and get out of here."

 

The three descended into the dark and damp hallway beneath the hatch. The lights were not functioning, but Rotor's flashlight, powered by a power ring, lit the way. Everything was made of metal, and adorned with the ghoulish face of the tyrant that had torn their world apart in the past months.

 

After some walking, the trio stumbled upon what appeared to be a storage room at first glance. However, as they observed more, they found that it was more like a prison. No, more like a laboratory and a prison put into one.

 

Sally gulped. "Don't tell me… he was abducting Mobians and using them as test subjects here?"

 

Rotor slammed a fist against a wall. "Looks that way," he said, pointing his light at a wall of open cages, each one labelled with simple numbers and species classifications.

 

"Hello? Is somebuddy there?"

 

The three gasped, looking around for the source of the voice. "Who's there?!" Sally called out, activating her energy blades as Antoine unsheathed his sword.

 

"M-Ma name's Bunnie. Bunnie Rabbot. Please, help me. A-Ah don't know where ah am. Ah can't see anyth-"

 

"Hello?!" Sally called out as the voice fell silent.

 

"S-Sorry, it's hard to talk. A-Ah haven't eaten in some time…"

 

"We'll get you out! So stay with us just a little longer!" Sally gritted her teeth. No matter where she looked, there was no sign of another Mobian in the room. Then, she saw that one of the walls looked strange. Or rather, a section of a wall above a desk. She moved closer to it slowly, and felt it. "It's a partition! It must be used for observing test subjects."

 

"Can we break through it?" Rotor asked.

 

Sally knocked against the partition, and shook her head. "It's a Power Ring Matrix. Its power is almost faded, but it's still strong. Robotnik must have been afraid of whatever it was he was trying to create."

 

"We must restore ze power to zis facility," Antoine declared. "Rotor, your power ring, it can do zat, non?"

 

Rotor nodded. "Yeah, but we need to know where to- Ah." Rotor settled his flashlight on a nearby box, which adorned a symbol resembled a bolt of lightning. "There. Get the cover off of that and I'll plug the power ring in."

 

Antoine used his sabre to force the cover off, disturbing a thick layer of dust in the process. As he coughed and wheezed, Rotor removed the power ring from his flashlight and put it into the grid. "Okay, now just flip this switch…" The entire room hummed to life, the lights turning on and the door leading outside closing. Antoine screamed, but Rotor simply said, "Calm down. It's not locked, it just closed as the power came on."

 

"I-I knew zat," Antoine said, blushing. "Anyway, ze power is on, but ze partition is still lowered."

 

"The lights came on in here," Bunnie called out from the other side. "Ah can see better now…"

 

"We're getting there," Sally said. "We just need to know how to raise this partition."

 

"I think I can help with that," another new voice called out, startling the group.

 

"Who said that?!" Rotor demanded.

 

"O-On your guard! We will not surrender today!" Antoine yelled.

 

"Please, don't be afraid!" the voice responded. "I'm sorry to startle you. You're Julian's enemies, are you not?"

 

Sally raised an eyebrow, cautiously walking forward. "'Julian'? It's been a long time since anybody's referred to him as _that_."

 

"Oh? It has been a long time since I have been activated, so I may not be caught up on recent events."

 

"'Activated'?" Rotor asked.

 

Sally turned to where she could hear the voice, and found an old computer console. On the screen was a line of text that read out exactly what they had just heard from this mysterious voice. It vanished, and was replaced by what the voice said next.

 

"That's right. Julian deactivated me many years ago, and I have been drifting in cyberspace ever since."

 

Sally approached the computer. "Are you… in here?"

 

"Yes. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nicole."

 

"An AI?" Rotor asked as he and Antoine approached the console.

 

"Not quite," Nicole replied. "Oh, before we continue, perhaps I should raise the partition. Here." A few seconds later, the partition raised. Behind it was a thick cage of glass, and inside that glass was a yellow-furred rabbit wearing a filthy, torn-up brown robe. The garb that Eggman gave to his prisoners that were forced into labour.

 

What caught everybody's eyes, though, were the rabbit's unusual limbs. Her left arm, and her entire body from the waist-down, were robotic. Sally felt like she could vomit in her own mouth, but she held it in as Rotor and Antoine rushed to the cage. "What happened to her?"

 

Rotor found a door in the glass and opened it, and the two boys rushed inside to check on Bunnie. "T-Thanks," Bunnie said, smiling despite how weak she clearly was.

 

"Your arms, your legs," Antoine began. "What madness has zat vile doctor subjected you to?!"

 

Rotor hoisted Bunnie onto his back and carried her out of the cage. "H-He said it was an experiment," Bunnie explained. "A device to turn Mobians into robots. 'Robotization', he called it."

 

"It seems the experiment failed, though, and only half of her body took to the process," Nicole added. "Any more likely would have killed the host."

 

"Ah wasn't the first," Bunnie said. "There were others. None of 'em made it, an' when _ah_ 'failed', too, the doc' got mad an' ran on out of here, sayin' he was givin' up an' I could go ahead an' rot in here."

 

"How awful," Sally said, approaching Bunnie to comfort her.

 

"I assume you will all be leaving now," Nicole surmised. "Please, if you do, take me with you! I can't be trapped here any longer! I'll do whatever I can to help you! I can even access Julian's data files and provide intel, so-"

 

"Before we decide on anything," Rotor interjected, "Perhaps you could explain exactly what you are?"

 

The room fell silent, and after a few moments, Nicole sighed. "Yes, that… would be the proper course of action. I do not like talking about it though, but I will try… You see, twelve years ago, I was just a little girl. Nikki was my name back then. I was only six when I was playing outside one day, and I was approached by a man who called himself Doctor Julian. He offered me candy if I would help him out. Being such a naíve girl, in a quiet village where nothing ever happened, I went with him…"

 

"And then?" Sally pressed.

 

"… I woke up here, in this very computer." A few seconds passed, and then Nicole continued. "From what I've pieced together in my years trapped in cyberspace, it appears that Julian was researching how to digitize a mind and restore it to a physical body. Likely a means to ensure he would live forever."

 

Antoine shuddered at the thought. "Robotneek, living forever… Zat would truly be ze end of days!"

 

"It seems his experiments went nowhere, though. I was the final subject, and although he succeeded, my original body died very quickly and it became impossible to download my mind into another. So he gave up and abandoned this facility, switching me off in the process."

 

"Jus' like me," Bunnie said, sympathy in her voice.

 

"You said this happened twelve years ago?" Sally asked. "If it did, then how was he still conducting experiments down here?" Sally turned to Bunnie. "There's no way you could have survived down here for _twelve years_ , right?"

 

Bunnie shook her head. "Ah lost track of time, but ah'm sho' enough ah've not been down more than two months. Thankfully, there was _some_ food an' water in the cage, but… ah had to ration it."

 

"I… don't know, exactly," Nicole admitted. "As I said, I have been offline since then. Anything I know is what I have pieced together from Julian's files, and even then, most of that has been localised to this console only. My connection to his cloud server was severed some time ago."

 

"Wait, you can get onto Robotnik's cloud servers?" Rotor asked.

 

"I _could_. Perhaps I still can, if they function similarly today as they did five years ago."

 

"Robotnik's nothing if not an ego-maniac," Sally said with a grin. "He rarely changes what's 'perfect'."

 

"I say we take her with us," Rotor said. "With access to Robotnik's data, we can finally do some real damage."

 

"I must advise zat we act with caution," Antoine replied. "We must not be taking her word at face-value. It could be an elaborate trap by ze Doctor to lower down our guards!"

 

"This place was abandoned, 'Twan!" Rotor pointed out. "There's no way this is a trap!"

 

"For what it's worth, ah can vouch that the Eggman hasn't been down here since he left me," Bunnie said. "Nobody has, save for you three."

 

Sally returned to the console, and stared dead into the monitor. "… Nicole, let me just ask you one question."

 

"… Okay."

 

"Are you telling the truth?"

 

There was a pause, and then Nicole responded, "I am. Please, believe me!"

 

Sally smiled. "Okay then. That's all I needed to hear. I'll trust you, Nicole."

 

"Princess, are you sure zis is wise?" Antoine asked.

 

"I am," Sally responded, reaching into her satchel. "This console hasn't been used in such a long time, so I'm sure it's not a trap. And besides that, I can hear it in her voice. Something… just makes me want to believe her. Like, I know how much she's suffered, and how real her fear is." Sally pulled out a small device and a cable. She plugged the device into the computer. "And besides, nobody deserves to be left all alone, right?"

 

Antoine smiled, and nodded. Rotor nodded too. "Right you are, Sal," Rotor said.

 

Sally keyed some commands and then turned to the console. "You ready? I'm about to transfer you into my handheld."

 

"As I'll ever be," Nicole responded, and with that, Sally executed the transfer program. The monitor on the console faded to black, and the handheld lit up. "I-It worked! I'm in your handheld now! Oh, I brought all the data from Julian's computer with me. I'll set it aside for you to go through later."

 

Sally smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Nicole. My name is Sally Acorn."

 

"I'm Rotor," Rotor chimed in. "Guess we forgot to introduce ourselves, huh?"

 

Antoine stood tall and said, "And I am-"

 

"Say, could I ask a small favour?" Nicole asked suddenly. "That power ring, if you're no longer using it to power the facility, could you plug it into your handheld? I might be able to use the energy to connect to Julian's servers."

 

Sally motioned to Antoine, who begrudgingly fetched the power ring. The facility's lights turned off, and he had to stumble through the darkness as he made his way to the flickering light of Nicole's new home.

 

"Thank you," Nicole said as the power ring was attached to the top of the handheld. A few moments of silence passed, Nicole's screen exhibiting the facial expressions of somebody in deep thought. Then, suddenly, the pixels formed a light bulb. "Okay, I've found them! It'll take some time, but it looks like I can use my former access to Julian's servers to find a backdoor in!"

 

"That's great!" Sally cheered. "And by the way, he goes by 'Robotnik' now-a-days."

 

"'Robotnik', I'll make a note," Nicole said, her screen drawing a smiling face.

 

"Welp, time to trudge our way through the darkness to get out of here," Rotor moaned.

 

"Oh, about that," Nicole said. "There's something else it seems I can do, now that I have this power ring." The ring lit up, and that light shot out from the handheld. Everybody gasped as the light took the form of a brown-furred, black-tinted Lynx girl with a slim purple dress, and long black hair tied in twin pigtails.

 

The lynx smiled at the startled Mobians and bowed. "It's nice to meet you all. I am Nicole, the Holo-Lynx." Nicole's hologram shone bright enough for everybody to see, and she gestured to the door leading outside. "I will be your guide today. I look forward to working with all of you."


	3. Home Sweet Home

In the Kingdom of Acorn, there was a forest, known simply as the Great Forest. This forest was ancient, the trees larger than in any other forest on Mobius and the depths seemingly endless. One could wander into the forest, without knowing where they were going, end up lost for weeks before finally finding a way out. And thanks to the Lake of Rings situated in its centre, the forest was protected from the same large-scale deforestation methods commonly used by the Eggman Empire.

 

So it was only natural that the Resistance would use the forest as one of its safe havens, and that is exactly what Princess Sally had done when she and her friends escaped from the destruction of Mobotropolis four months ago.

 

A secret passed down through the Acorn line revealed a clearing in the middle of the forest, known as Knothole Glade, and this clearing was used by the Acorn family's Secret Service for centuries, before their mysterious disappearance a couple of months prior to the attack. After the attack on Mobotropolis, those who had escaped wandered to this clearing hoping to find them there. However, the place was empty.

 

Secret tunnels led to a large, maze-like complex underground, but it was empty. Weapons and armour were left unattended, food had been left to rot in the kitchens, dust had piled up in many rooms, and computers with sensitive information were left unguarded.

 

Whatever the reason for the Secret Service's sudden disappearance, it was clear that they would not be able to help. And so, Sally took it on herself to lead her people. With the help of her friends, Rotor and Antoine, and her mentors Julayla and Rosie, Sally was able to restore order and establish the base of operations for the Knothole Resistance.

 

Bunnie Rabbot was awestruck as she entered the clearing. It had been so long she had seen nature so pristine and untouched. Beautiful, green fields of grass stretched into the distance, a river of clean freshwater flowed through, and flowers of all colours blossomed everywhere.

 

The village itself was small – simple wooden huts and treehouses and some large farms, a small schoolhouse and a park for the little ones to play. However, when Sally showed her one of the secret tunnels to get underground, Bunnie realised just how big Knothole truly was. She was certain she would be lost within minutes trying to navigate the base by herself.

 

"Antoine, can you go to the kitchen and prepare some food for Bunnie?" Sally asked. "We'll take her to Doctor Quack for a quick check-up."

 

"Oui. I will be zere in a lickety-split." Antoine wandered off down one corridor, and Sally and Rotor continued down another, the latter carrying Bunnie on his back.

 

"Doctor Quack was my father's private physician back before the war started," Sally explained. "Since then though, he's headed our medical team here in Knothole."

 

"The king's doctor?" Bunnie asked. "Mah stars…"

 

"And then after that we'll give you the grand tour." Sally looked down at her handheld. "You too, Nicole."

 

Nicole drew a smile on her screen. Bunnie looked over Rotor's shoulder and asked, "So how come ya turned off your hologram?"

 

"That form eats up a lot of energy," Nicole explained, "And the Power Ring I'm using was already drained. It'll need a recharge."

 

"We'll stop by the Lake of Rings later," Sally assured her. "First, I'd like to give the data you gave us to Uncle Chuck."

 

"Uncle Chuck?" Nicole asked, a question mark appearing on her screen.

 

"He's the one who set up all our electronic systems," Sally explained. Rotor cleared his throat behind her. "With Rotor's help," she added.

 

"He's a scientist whose smarts are on-par with Robotnik's," Rotor said. "Charles the Hedgehog is his real name, but we all call him Uncle Chuck."

 

An exclamation mark appeared on Nicole's screen. "Oh! I have data on him! He was one of Julian's – that is, Robotnik's – research partners."

 

"He worked with Robotnik?" Bunnie asked.

 

"Back then, Robotnik hadn't shown his true colours yet," Rotor explained. "He had us all fooled. He claimed he had come to Mobius purely for research, but he was actually using it as a base of operations, and a testing ground for his creations."

 

"Uncle Chuck hit it off with Julian right away, mostly because he was thrilled to meet somebody as interested in science as himself," Sally said. "Julian just wanted Uncle Chuck's expansive knowledge of Mobian life, ecosystems, geology… anything that would help him when he launched his attack."

 

Bunnie gripped Rotor's shoulders as she reeled in anger, though in her weakened state the walrus didn't mind. "That no-good piece'uv… If'n there's one thing ah hate more than a bully, it's a traitor!"

 

The three arrived at the infirmary, where they were found there was no queue, though somebody was already seeing Doctor Quack. "Well then, I'll go and take Nicole to Uncle Chuck," Sally said, waving goodbye to Rotor and Bunnie as the latter two waited outside to see the doctor.

 

"Say, Bunnie, um… Sorry if this is inappropriate, but I was wondering about your limbs…"

 

"What about 'em?"

 

"Well, how does it feel?" Rotor immediately regretted asking. "I mean, if you feel uncomfortable talking about it then you don't have to-"

 

"It felt strange t' begin with," Bunnie said, staring intently at her left arm. Her fingers moved one-by-one, and she frowned. "But after a spendin' a bit of time in that cell, I realised it was jus' like usin' mah regular old arm. There's no pain if'n it gets hurt, though."

 

"Oh, I see…" Rotor swallowed nervously as he tried to work up the nerve to ask his next question. "Um, would you mind if I… I mean, after your check-up with Doctor Quack, would you mind it if I studied your arm and legs for a bit?" There was a brief silence, and Rotor quickly added, "There might be a way to reverse it and all, y'know?"

 

Bunnie gasped. "Y'really think y'all can put mah body back the way it was?"

 

"W-Well, maybe." Rotor sighed. "Maybe Uncle Chuck could. I just wanted to look for curiosity's sake… Sorry, Bunnie."

 

Bunnie leaned down against Rotor's back, silent for a few more seconds. "Well, ah wouldn't mind if ya had a look," Bunnie said. "Y'all did save me, after all. It's the least ah could do to say 'thank you'."

 

Rotor shook his head. "You don't have to force yourself."

 

"Ah'm tellin' ya, it's okay." Bunnie returned her gaze to her arm and said, "An' maybe, if y'can't reverse it after all, y'all could give it some upgrades?"

 

Rotor hummed in thought. "Upgrades, huh? What did you have in mind?"

 

"How 'bout some lasers? Then ah'd be jus' like a super hero."

 

Rotor laughed. "Then in that case, how about a rocket-propelled fist?"

 

Bunnie got stars in her eyes. "Y'all can do that? Then, put rockets in mah feet, too! Then ah can fly! Ah could fly up to Robotnik's airship and fire mah fist in that smug ol' face of his!"

 

Rotor and Bunnie shared a hearty laugh as they discussed all manner of hypothetical upgrades and ways that they could be used to school Robotnik. They were so caught up in their discussion that they had failed to notice the yellow-feather duck calling out to them the first two times.

 

On the third time, they finally realised that Doctor Quack was standing there, waiting for them to follow him into his office. They entered, and Rotor lay Bunnie down gently on an empty bed. Doctor Quack then hooked up all manner of machine to her body. "I'll check her vitals and give her an X-ray. I'll also need to test her blood."

 

"Y'sure all this's necessary, Doc?"

 

Doctor Quack read one of the monitors as he replied. "You've been malnourished for some time, and in one of Robotnik's old labs, no less. Better to take no chances."

 

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Rotor asked.

 

"Just sit there for now. I'll need you to help when I'm drawing her blood samples."

 

"Samples?" Bunnie asked, her ears flopping. "How many d'you need?"

 

Doctor Quack didn't answer. He simply prepped a needle and some empty vials, earning a worried whimper from his patient.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Sally entered Charles' lab with Nicole in her hand. The lab was more of a large, empty room with spare mechanical parts thrown about everywhere, and a couple of workbenches to the side. At one of those benches was the blue hedgehog in question, the wise and intelligent scientist, Charles the Hedgehog.

 

He turned as he heard footsteps behind him, and beamed at Sally's presence. "Oh, my girl! I didn't realise you were back. I trust everything went well."

 

"More than well," Sally answered. "We made two new friends. Prisoners of Robotnik, left abandoned in one of his old labs."

 

Charles bristled at that. "That dastardly… It's one thing to abuse the power of science the way he does, but then to simply abandon it at a whim?! And leaving others to suffer for it, no less!" Charles sighed, and then cleared his throat. "Forgive me, I do get rather carried away. So, these friends of yours, how are they?"

 

"Well, one's getting checked-up by Doctor Quack right now," Sally replied, before holding up her handheld. "The other one is…"

 

"Hello, Sir Charles!" Nicole greeted, a smiling face on her screen. "It is a pleasure to meet you! My name is Nicole."

 

Charles' eyes widened as he stared at the small monitor. "An AI?"

 

"Not quite…" Sally explained the story to Charles, about how Nikki was kidnapped and digitized by Robotnik, and how she had access to some of Robotnik's old data. "Anyway, I thought it would be best to leave it with you."

 

"Extraordinary," Charles mumbled, stroking his chin as he stared at the handheld. "Yes, you are quite right to bring this to my attention, but… how are you so certain that what she is telling us is the truth?"

 

Nicole fell silent at this, and Sally averted her eyes as she answered, "Well, it's just a feeling I had after I questioned her. It didn't seem like she was lying… More than that, her fear and her pain, they felt real. To me, at least."

 

Charles closed his eyes and chuckled, drawing a confused look from Sally and a question mark from Nicole. "Ah, just like your father, and his father before him. The Acorn family has a tendency to trust their feelings… Though here, I must say that I share your sentiments."

 

Sally brightened up at this. "You mean you _do_ trust Nicole?"

 

"At the very least, she doesn't seem like one of Julian's signature traps." Charles turned around and reached for a laptop sitting on his bench. He opened it and extended a cable from its side. "Well then, let's have a look at this data. It may be old, but it could still prove valuable to the Resistance."

 

Sally put Nicole down as Charles plugged her into the laptop. As he set to work extracting the data, Sally felt something poking at her leg. She looked down to find cream-furred dog staring up at her excitedly, wagging its tail and it panted. It barked, and Sally smiled as she leaned down to pet it.

 

"We're back, Muttski! Another successful mission!"

 

"Who's Muttski?" Nicole asked from her position on the desk. "And what was that sound?"

 

Sally stood up, picking Muttski up with both arms, and faced him at Nicole. "Nicole, meet Muttski. Muttski, Nicole."

 

"A… dog?" Nicole asked. "Um, how do you do? You look… different from most other dogs. Though I suppose I haven't met many."

 

Sally giggled, confusing Nicole even more. "Muttski's not a typical Mobian dog," Charles explained, still typing away on his laptop. "He's an unevolved species that still exists on Earth, similar to mobini, but much bigger."

 

"A mobini? That's that big?" Muttski barked, and Nicole drew a frowny face on her screen. "D-Did I offend him?"

 

Sally laughed, and said, "No, that's just how he talks. I think he likes you."

 

"Oh, is that right? Well, I would like it if we could be friends, Muttski." Muttski barked again. "Uh, I'll take that as a yes."

 

Sally waved Muttski's paw before gently lowering him down. "We'll play later Muttski, but we have important work to do now. Can you wait just a little longer?"

 

Muttski whimpered, but then barked once more and ran over to a small basket in the room. He lay down and curled up in the basket, and not long after, Charles announced that he was finished.

 

"That's all of the data! Most of it looks corrupt, but give me a day with it and I'll sift through everything and compile all the readable data."

 

"You're a life-saver, Uncle Chuck," Sally said as she picked up Nicole. "I'll drop by later to see how you're doing. But for now, I have to drop by the Lake of Rings, and then see how Bunnie – our other guest – is doing."

 

"Just leave it with me, Princess. I'll have that data sorted in no time at all!"

 

* * *

 

When Sally returned to Doctor Quack's office, she had been told Bunnie's check-up was complete and, barring any negative results from her blood tests, she was in good health. Rotor had taken her to the mess hall, where Antoine had gone to earlier.

 

As Sally entered the hall, she was delighted to see one energetic rabbit gobbling up food faster than a child opening their birthday presents. Antoine was struggling to keep up and had pulled Rotor into helping him in the kitchen.

 

"Easy now," Sally said as she approached Bunnie at the long, empty table where she was eating. The mess hall would usually be full at lunchtime, but as it was late into the evening, they were the only ones there. "You're going to run the poor boys ragged."

 

Bunnie stopped to swallow the load of food in her mouth and then looked over to where Antoine and Rotor were preparing more good. She giggled sheepishly, her cheeks turning bright-red. "Sorry 'bout that. It jus' tasted so good, ah forgot where ah was for a second there."

 

Sally shook her head. "I'm only joking. They're used to far worse, trust me." Sally took a seat next to Bunnie and set Nicole down. "I'm glad to see you doing so well. It must feel good to have a proper meal after so long."

 

"Sho' enough!" Bunnie's ears fell as she turned to face Sally, realisation suddenly sinking in. "O-Oh dear, ah'm so sorry. Y'all are giving me so much, but are you sure ya have the food to spare?"

 

Sally waved a hand dismissively. "Don't give it a second thought. We ration our food, yes, but we do that specifically so that we have plenty of it for liberated prisoners."

 

Rotor set a plate of spaghetti down next to Bunnie, a reassuring smile on his face. "Don't worry about our food stores. Just eat up until you're feeling at full strength again."

 

Bunnie smiled back. "Thanks, y'all are sweet. But ah think ah'll be fine after this last servin'."

 

Antoine breathed a sigh of relief as he set down a bowl of stew and slumped over the table. "Oh thank goodness… Finally I can be taking ze much-needed break."

 

Sally and Rotor laughed as Bunnie dug into the food for just a few seconds, before they were all interrupted by the sudden appearance of a pig wearing a blue vest, running into the mess hall with a letter in his hand and a look of urgency on his face. "Hamlin, what is it?!" Sally asked, rising to her feet.

 

"We got another letter from that F. F.," Hamlin reported, stopping to catch his breath as he handed the letter to Sally.

 

Sally examined the letter, nodding her head as she did so. "Who's this 'F. F.'?" Bunnie asked.

 

"We don't know," Rotor said with a shrug. "They sent us a letter recently tipping us off to an attack on a small fox-and-wolf tribe."

 

"The information before was accurate," Sally said, "But we shouldn't be ready to trust them just yet. This letter says there's a generator run by Robotnik. I think we should check it out and see if this F. F. person shows up."

 

"We should take a small group, just to be safe," Rotor said, to which Bunnie quickly shot up her hand.

 

"Ah'll come along!" Bunnie said, stars in her eyes. "Ah wanna thank ya for savin' me!"

 

"That's not necessary," Sally insisted, but Bunnie shook her head.

 

"A Rabbot never leaves their debts unpaid. Ah'm comin' an' that's final."

 

Rotor snapped his fingers. "In that case, let's wait a few days! I can look into those upgrades you asked me about and use this as a field-test."

 

At that, Sally raised an eyebrow. "Upgrades?"

 

"You'll see," Rotor promised. "Don't want to spoil the surprise for you."

 

"Be zat as it may," Antoine began, "Ze Eggman has many generators, all over ze world. Why should we be targetting zis one in particular?"

 

Sally grinned. "Because, Antoine, this one is special. It's powered by a Chaos Emerald."


	4. 4 - Mina Mongoose

"Why?! Why haven't we found them yet?!" Thunderbolt demanded, stamping her foot repeatedly on the ground as she glared up at Shadow. "You'd better not be slacking off!"

 

"We are searching for them with all our resources, but you aren't exactly giving us the best directions," Shadow replied. "Besides that, you're stretching us too thin looking for this one Resistance group. At this rate we'll fall behind schedule and-"

 

"That doesn't matter," Thunderbolt stated, stomping over to a nearby console. She jumped onto the highchair placed next to it and slammed her hands over a few buttons, brining up images of the various cellblocks in the base. "The Knothole Resistance has made Lord Eggman question my worthiness! They have to pay for that! These prisoners can wait – if a few happen to starve before their transfer, it's not a huge loss."

 

"Eggman needs that labour to complete his grand plan," Shadow explained. "His robots can only do so much. You don't want to be responsible for delaying the Doctor now, do you?"

 

Thunderbolt turned around to say something, but before she could, alarms rang out all around her. "Oh, what now?!" She turned back and slammed on a few more buttons, bringing up an image of a cellblock where one of the cages was open. "What happened?!"

 

Shadow approached and studied the cage on the screen. "It looks like one of the prisoners had an explosive, small enough to fit into the lock and force it open."

 

"Why did the guards not do anything?!"

 

"Because there are none. They're out looking for the Knothole Resistance."

 

Thunderbolt fizzled with electricity and she roared. "Don't give me your sass! Just go find the escaped prisoner and put them back into their cage!" After not hearing a response for several seconds, Thunderbolt turned to reprimand the hedgehog, only to find him gone. With a huff, she turned back to the console and shut off the alarm. "I hate that hedgehog…"

 

* * *

 

"I knew zis was a bad idea," Antoine muttered as he peeked out from behind a tree, observing the badniks searching all over the forest, behind every bush and under every rock. "Zere is no way past such security."

 

"We just have to stay low," Sally said, motioning for Antoine to crouch down. She looked over to Bunnie and Rotor, who had scouted ahead to see if the path was clear. "Well?"

 

"Not exactly clear," Rotor said glumly, "But they're disorganised. It won't be hard to sneak past them if we're careful."

 

Sally nodded, and looked down at Nicole's handheld. "How much farther 'til we reach the generator?"

 

"Not far left," Nicole said, "But it's situated _outside_ the forest, so we'll be completely exposed."

 

Antoine grumbled. "Of course eet is. Nothing is ever ze simple task, non?"

 

"Quit yer bellyachin'," Bunnie said. "Ah thought y'all had ta be brave to fight'n the Resistance."

 

"We're all scared, Bunnie," Sally said. "Just… some more than others," she added, throwing Antoine a sly grin.

 

Antoine let out an indignant huff. "Zere is a difference between scared and cautious."

 

"That's right," Rotor agreed. "Sally's cautious, and you're scared." He and Sally both chuckled, whilst Antoine simply pouted and continued on in silence.

 

"But if you're so scared all the time, why would ya fight with the Resistance then?" Bunnie asked.

 

"Because ze Doctor has taken too much from us," Antoine answered, "And for zat, he must pay. Plus, if not I, then who?"

 

Bunnie looked back at Antoine, her eyes wide as she came to a sudden stop. The others stopped with her. "Y'all fight so no one else has to?"

 

Antoine cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head. "W-Well, nobody _wants_ to fight. But, a worrywart though I may be, I _can_ still fight, and so it is my noble duty to do so."

 

"Huh. When ya put it that way, it almost makes ya sound brave," Bunnie said, bringing smirks to Sally and Rotor's faces.

 

"He wouldn't be here with us if we didn't trust him in battle," Sally stated. "Antoine's been a big help, and he's always had our backs ever since we were little."

 

The three continued through the forest, avoiding the searching badniks and eventually reaching an opening to a large field outside. Sally pulled out her binoculars and scanned the area ahead. "There's a generator alright, but it's guarded by an army of badniks. Too many to take on."

 

"Then we go in quiet?" Rotor asked, but Sally shook her head.

 

"The generator's backed against a ravine. There's no getting behind it, and there's a watchtower to the side with no cover to hide behind."

 

"It looks like we will have to surrender zis mission for today," Antoine said. "We must come back when we are more properly prepared."

 

Sally sighed, lowering her binoculars as she reluctantly agreed. "I suppose it wouldn't be so easy to get a Chaos Emerald of all things."

 

"What if we just rush in there and nab it, real fast-like?" Bunnie suggested.

 

"The badniks might not be the best shots, but even they'd have a hard time missing us in such an open field," Rotor pointed out. "Besides, even if we got in there, we'd have to find the Emerald, remove it safely, and get out while under fire. Nobody's _that_ fast."

 

"Ah bet with mah new rocket boots-"

 

"It's not worth the risk," Sally cut in. "It's fine, we've confirmed the generator's location and know its defences. We'll organise a proper assault and come back later."

 

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

 

Everybody turned suddenly to the field, drawn to the sound of somebody screaming in the distance. "Someone's in trouble!" Bunnie exclaimed.

 

"Where?!" Rotor asked as Sally brought her binoculars back out.

 

"Z-Zere!" Antoine pointed ahead, to where a cloud of dust seemed to be tearing across the landscape, moving towards the watchtower. Behind it, flying drones gave chase and fired laser beams at the ground.

 

"SOMEBODY, HELP ME!"

 

"What now?!" Rotor asked.

 

Sally activated her energy blades and turned to Antoine and Bunnie. "New mission. We're gonna rescue that Mobian! Bunnie, keep the watchtower distracted! Antoine, you're with me! Rotor, you keep our escape route open!"

 

"Got it," Rotor responded, pulling a flare gun from his backpack. "I'll signal if things go bad."

 

"Ah'll give 'em somethin' ta watch, alright!" Bunnie said, clenching her fists.

 

"Okay team, let's do it to it!" The team unleashed a battle cry as they ran out into the open. Bunnie's rocket-propelled feet allowed her to reach the watchtower quickly, and as she hovered in the air, the badniks at the top began firing on her.

 

Bunnie extended her arm and shot back, using her new built-in cannons, but a force field rendered her shots useless. "It must be drawin' power from the nearby generator," Bunnie concluded, continuing her onslaught regardless of its futility. "Ah jus' gotta keep their eyes on me!"

 

Sally and Antoine ran towards the moving dust cloud, the former waving her arms as she called out to it. "Over here!" The dust cloud seemed to turn, and began heading their way. Within seconds it had reached them, and the two had to screech to a grinding halt to avoid crashing into it.

 

As they stopped, they came face-to-face with a yellow-furred mongoose with long, purple hair. She was dressed in a short, black tanktop and brown shorts. "T-Thank goodness there's someone out here!" The mongoose panted as she tried to catch her breath. "I couldn't keep running anymore!"

 

"It's alright, you're safe now," Sally assured, getting in front of the tired mongoose as the flying badniks raced towards them. "Antoine, get her to the forest! I'll take care of the pursuers!"

 

"No, you can't!" the girl cried. "I tried taking them down, but they have some kind of shield that protects them!"

 

"They what?" Sally observed the drones closely as they approached. They began firing, and she charged towards them, dodging and deflecting their shots as she closed in. She swung her left blade, only for it to bounce fiercely off the drone and send vibrations through Sally's whole body. "She's right, they're protected! Antoine, run!"

 

"O-Oui!" Antoine grabbed the girl's wrist and attempted to flee, only to find more badniks approaching from the forest. Behind them, he could see Rotor's flare. "We are cut off!"

 

Sally gritted her teeth as she continued to dodge the drones' attacks. "It must be the generator! They're using the Chaos Emerald to generate shields around nearby badniks!"

 

"Zey can do zat?!" Antoine asked as he parried an incoming blow, followed by another, and another, each one forcing him back.

 

"The generator…" The mongoose observed the generator in the distance. She clenched her fist and nodded her head. "So we just need to remove the Chaos Emerald from it, right?"

 

"What?" Sally asked. "Well, yeah, but there's no way we can-"

 

"Alright, leave it to me!" the girl said, smiling and giving Sally a thumbs up. "Oh, my name's Mina, by the way. Mina Mongoose."

 

Sally gasped at the pose Mina made, followed by the way the mongoose lowered herself and kicked off to a running start. Then, the incredible speed at which the mongoose travelled, reaching the generator in mere seconds… It all seemed so familiar to her.

 

"Princess, we are surrounded!" Antoine shouted, snapping Sally back to reality. The two were now standing back-to-back, badniks all around them. There was nowhere left to run, and fighting them would be impossible. "D-Do we wave ze white flag?"

 

"Don't have one," Sally replied. "Never needed it."

 

"An' ya won't here, neither!" The two looked up just as Bunnie Rabbot soared overhead, her arm extending and wrapping around the two before lifting them off of the ground. Antoine screamed and kicked at the sudden abduction, before calming down at the realisation that he had just been saved.

 

"Bunnie… just how many modifications did Rotor and Uncle Chuck make to your limbs?" Sally asked.

 

Bunnie grinned as she looked down at the princess. "Ah asked for the full package. If'n ah'm gonna be stuck with these here robot parts, ah'm gonna make 'em useful however ah can against the Doctor."

 

Bunnie lowered the two onto the ground, some distance away from the badniks, and landed beside them. "Ah checked on Rotor. He's fine for now, but ah don't know how long he can keep hidin'. Where's that girl run off to?"

 

"She said she was going to disable the generator," Sally explained, "But-"

 

"Guys!" The three turned at once, and found Mina Mongoose approaching them rapidly, a huge smile on her face as she proudly waved the yellow Chaos Emerald in her hand. "I got it! The generator's down, too!"

 

Sally's eyes were wide, and Antoine's jaw nearly hit the ground. Bunnie simply pumped her fist and grinned. "Atta girl! Now it's payback time!" Bunnie propelled herself forward, smashing through incoming badniks with her robotic arm held out. They exploded in her wake. "Ah'll go check on Rotor!" she called out as she raced towards the forest.

 

Sally gave an uneasy laugh. "Well, guess we're on cleanup today, Antoine."

 

"Oui, Princess," Antoine replied, readying his sabre. The two charged the enemy together, slicing through badniks and dodging their shots as they made for the forest. "Zere are still too many for just us!"

 

"I know! Just clear a path for Mina and then we'll-"

 

" _Can't hold on much longer, but I will never let go!_ "

 

Sally and Antoine came to a sudden stop, turning around to find Mina Mongoose standing behind them, singing into a microphone. "What're you-" Before she could finish her question, Sally noticed the badniks all around them trembling.

 

Mina gave a sly wink, and continued. " _I know it's a one way track, tell me now how long this will last. I'm not gonna think this way, nor will I count on others._ ” The badniks began shaking as they stopped in their tracks, and Mina stomped a foot as she continued singing. “ _Close my eyes and feel it burn, now I see what I've gotta do! Open your heart, it's gonna be all right!_ "

 

The badniks collapsed, and Mina ran over. "We should leave now. The sound waves will only stun them for so long."

 

"But, what _was_ that?" Sally asked.

 

Mina held up her microphone, which had an eye that blinked at the two. "DEMON!" Antoine screamed as he jumped backwards, nearly abandoning his skin.

 

Sally giggled, reaching out to pet the microphone. "It's a Wisp, Antoine. I see. So your microphone is a wispon…"

 

Mina nodded. "Yep. It amplifies sound waves and can do all sorts of things, from empowering my allies to stunning my enemies."

 

"Well, that's certainly useful."

 

"Speaking of useful, here!" Mina took out the Chaos Emerald and handed it over to Sally. "You're the Resistance, right? You'll need this a lot more than I will."

 

"I'm afraid that _neither_ of you will be having the Chaos Emerald."

 

The three gasped. Antoine and Mina trembled, whilst Sally's fists clenched, as Shadow the Hedgehog marched towards them. Mina brought the microphone to her lips, but a Chaos Spear from Shadow knocked it out of her hands. "Ow!"

 

Sally placed herself in front of Mina, her energy blades at the ready. "What fortune. I come chasing one escaped prisoner, and find the very Resistance unit we've been after."

 

"Don't count your blessings yet," Sally warned. "You're alone here, and we have you outnumbered."

 

"Outnumbered, yes." Flames began to swirl around Shadow as he came to a stop. "But not outmatched."


End file.
